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Trans Liberation is a series by Micah Bazant which features collaborative portraits about and with living trans people on the front lines of our liberation movement. It centers trans women and femmes of color, as well as incarcerated and disabled trans people of color.

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About Micah
Micah Bazant is a visual artist who works with social justice movements to make change look irresistible. They create art inspired by struggles to decolonize ourselves from white supremacy, patriarchy, ableism, and the gender binary. Their work is part of a struggle to reimagine ourselves in right relation to the planet in the face of climate crisis. Micah is an anti-zionist jew and identifies as trans, gender nonconforming, and timtum (one of six traditional jewish gender categories).

Right now, Micah is working hard on the Trans Life and Liberation Art Series – a weekly collaborative project that aims to amplify and honor communities on the front lines of the trans justice movement. At this time of intense violence and oppression, it celebrates trans people of color in life, and not just in memoriam. They are also a co-creator of and participating artist in the Trans Day of Resilience art project, that grew out of their work over the past 10 years, making art as a practice of love and solidarity with trans justice and racial justice movements.

Micah works with many social justice organizers and groups. They are an advisory board member of Sins Invalid, and have worked deeply with Forward Together, Jewish Voice for Peace, and Movement Generation over the past 10 years.

They live in the Bay Area and enjoy learning the secret histories of plants, fostering monarch caterpillars, and reading visionary fiction.

“FreshNalgas” is a play off “Fres-nalgas”, an indearing xicanx-centric term locals use as a substitute for saying “Fresno”. Fres(no) Nalgas (butt). The FreshNalgas music spotlight series is an all ages space held at our downtown home Fres.Co. Random dates, always created with love for our community. All proceeds go to Dulce UpFront programming.

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BUYEPONGO BIO
http://buyepongo.com/
The name Buyepongo means “to cause a ruckus” –which certainly describes the scene on the dance floors of Los Angeles whenever the band launches into its dizzyingly energetic, instantly infectious rhythms. But it also describes Buyepongo’s riotous mash-up of influences, which absorbs hip-hop, punk, funk, and jazz sounds into a delirious tropical blend of styles from across the Latin American diaspora. Like its name, the band is part hybrid, part invention, something untranslatable that nevertheless perfectly captures its uniquely vibrant spirit.On their debut album, Todo Mundo, due out January 29.

Buyepongo takes their Pan-Latin sound worldwide with a vivid collection of original music that is as hard to pin down as it is to resist.“Our music is going to get you moving and thinking,” says singer and percussionist Edgar “Meshlee” Modesto. “It’ll break you out of your comfort zone and connect you with other folks and cultures. If you come to dance and have a good time you’re going to get that, but if you come to hear great music with a lot of heart and technique, you’re going to get that too. It’s a very unique style.”

The members of Buyepongo started playing together as friends in high school, at the time reflecting their early punk rock and hip-hop influences. But after the band’s original incarnation split apart in 2010, Modesto and a few friends embarked on a life-altering backpacking trip through Belize and Guatemala which exposed them to the Afro-Caribbean sounds of the region’s Garifuna culture. “That trip to Central America was really an eye-opener,” Modesto recalls. “I realized that we could do a lot just by changing rhythms and adding our funk and flavor from growing up in L.A. Since then our mission has been to keep improving our sound and creating a new style of music.”The core members of Buyepongo came together shortly after Modesto’s return: multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Jorge “Yuka” Vallejo, bassist Randy Modesto(Edgar’s younger brother), and saxophonist Angel Hernandez. The membership of the band, which Vallejo says might be more accurately called a “tribe,” is fluid; on Todo Mundo, the line-up is completed by keyboardist Kris Castro and percussionist Larry Harvey.

Chicano, California 93241!
I’m alive with all the children of the 6th sun.
Rhythm and Blues, West Coastin’, Cali-King Palm trees.
Growing up in front of the Sierra Madres under the California sun.
Memories embedded in your mind create the fantasy in front of you.
Like hitting the switches on a low-rider or picking grapes back in fourth grade.
Where you from?

Norteño/Sureño y Sureño/Norteño.
One wild and crazy California we’re all 5150.
“East Side Bombs” on the West Side.
Protesting the “Zoot Suit Riots” of 2017.
Join the Zapatistas” Join La Revolucion!
Sub Commandante Marcos wants you!
Where you from?

Chicano, California 93241!
I can carry a little bit of you everywhere I go.
From the streets of Bakersfield to San Gabriel de Queretaro.
Like my ancestors and this land that’s Mexico.
You call me a wet-back for crossing an imaginary line.
But your mistaken, I’m the American Dream.
You see I pray to Lady Liberty when only the night exists.
And she told me to sing:
“Las Palabras del pueblo y que solamente pienso en ti.”
Si Se Puede! Si Se Puede! Si Se Puede!
Si Se Puede! Si Se Puede! Si Se Puede!
Where you from?

– Jorge Guillen

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About Jorge
“I was raised in the streets and barrios of Lamont, California. Second son born to illegal immigrants, first one to get a degree. But the Grapes of Wrath ain’t got nothing on me! I have visions of imaginary urban architectural landscapes and the concept of Chicanismo burning the midnight sun. When the nights’ sky is at it’s loudest silence, Lady Liberty I wish you could see me.”

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Dulce UpFront
www.dulceupfront.org
Dulce UpFront produces multi-generational, multimedia arts & culture events. We work in collaboration with event producers, organizations, businesses, institutions, touring artists from throughout the nation. Annually our events provide space for over a hundred performers reaching thousands of participants of varying ages and cultural backgrounds. Our aim has been to create visually rich multimedia events that celebrate life through culture while at the same time highlighting social/political issues. Intentionally making these issues digestible are key in gaining a broader community understanding.

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Fres.Co
www.somosfres.co
Fres.Co is a grassroots space for conscious cultural workers, movement builders, entrepreneurs, and artists to share their gifts with the community and vis versa. Whether it’s co-locating for our “9-5” jobs or offering workshops on artmaking, policy/research, or spoken word we hope to create a physical location where minds can meld and dreams can manifest into reality.

The exhibit will premiere at Fres.Co located in downtown Fresno. The show kicks off on ArtHop, Thursday, January 5 which runs until January 30, 2017. Fres.Co is located at 1918 Fresno Street, Fresno, CA 93721, next to the Crest Theatre.

About the artist: Joseph Tipay was born in Fresno, California and currently teaches college throughout the Central Valley. He received an M.F.A. from Academy of Arts University, San Francisco in Fine Arts-Printmaking. His prints deal with the struggles of his Mexican-American family, and the beauty that comes with adversity. They are also a reflection of the economic, cultural, political and social climate. Joseph’s currently works on large-scale woodcuts, which investigate the effects of incarceration. He is an award-winning artist and has been exhibited nationally.

About Incarceration Effect: The show deals with the impact on those who have felt the effects of incarceration. Joseph draws from the experience of having a father in and out of prison for most his life. This struggle has allowed him to connect to family members who have gone through similar experiences. Over time they have shared intimate details of the events that have shaped their lives. Along with this deep-rooted knowledge, he conductd informal interviews as well as research to create and support this social narrative. Some themes include communicating through prison walls, maintaining relationships, intergenerational incarceration, gun violence, gangs, and drug abuse. He also touches on breaking the cycle, unconditional love, humanity, the separation of family, and telling a side of the story that people are unaware of, or are insensitive to.

Printmaking is a traditional medium adopted by both Mexican and Chicano artists/activists. It allows communication to a large audience through the production of multiples. He continues this tradition by making large-scale woodcuts printed by hand. With the woodcut technique, he takes something hard and rigid, and transforming it into something beautiful. These are qualities that Joseph’s subjects share as well. It is a tough subject brought into a different light.

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Las Cafeteras BIO
Las Cafeteras create a vibrant musical fusion with a unique East LA sound and a community-focused political message. Their Afro-Mexican rhythms, zapateado & inspiring lyrics tell stories of a community who is looking for love & fights for justice in the concrete jungle of Los Angeles. A remix of traditional Son Jarocho sounds, LAS CAFETERAS add Afro-Caribbean marimbol and cajón, poetry in English and Spanglish, and instruments like jarana, requinto, a donkey jawbone and a wooden platform called the Tarima.

VIOLINDER is a young and upcoming violinist, music producer and singer from California. Being born in Thailand and in a musical family, Violinder has always been surrounded by many different types of music in his upbringing. He first started playing the violin when he was 11 years old and became a disciple of renowned Indian classical violinist, Dr. Sisirkana Dhar Choudhury. Being exposed to different types of music, Violinder has brought it upon his violin to experiment with different genres of music such as Hip-Hop, Bhangra, Indian classical and many more. He has frequently immersed into music production and film scoring in which he combines sounds he is influenced by. Violinder is also a graduate from the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) where he received his Bachelors of Fine Arts in World Music Performance. With lots of talent and potential, Raaginder is an artist who will always bring new, intense and interesting types of music for his audience to hear.

PATRICK CONTRERAS — Born and raised in Fresno, California Patrick Contreras has branded his unique style of violin playing with influences of Blues, EDM, Rock and Hip Hop to become Fresno’s most popular musician and regularly sells out clubs and theaters. Patrick thrills audiences wherever he goes with his original music and explosive interpretations of Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin and Carlos Santana.

Most recently Patrick has expanded his sound to include EDM (electronic dance music) and Hip Hop earning him a feature on popular blog World Star Hip Hop. This new direction has opened many doors and since 2011 Patrick has opened and worked with a diverse range of artists such as Johnny Mathis, Datsik, The Wailers, Porter Robinson,and Salvador Santana (Son of Carlos).

The future is bright for Patrick and only growing brighter! Look for releases in the acoustic and hip hop genres and a soon to be released video of “Somewhere Over The Rainbow”!

Boogat is a brilliant latin american vocalist who constantly reinvents himself with his prolific discography and a unique artistic approach. He has opened for Nortec Collective, Quantic, Gilles Peterson and Chromeo between others. Boogat’s non-stop work in the Worldbeat / Tropical Bass scene has given him world wide recognition and permited him to develop an international career, mainly in North America where tours and festival appearances have increased significantly since 2013. Some of his songs have also made their way to Hollywood, including placements in blockbusters like the TV series ”Homeland” and the film ”The Forger” with John Travolta. ”Neo-Reconquista” is his latest work to date (2015).